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Gene Wolfe
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The Fifth Head of Cerberus: Three Novellas Hardcover – 20 Dec. 2022

by Gene Wolfe (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 603 ratings

Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.

Far from Earth, two sister planets, Saint Anne and Saint Croix, circle each other in an eternal dance. It is said a race of shapeshifters once lived here, only to perish when men came. But one man believes they can still be found, somewhere in back of the beyond.

In The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Gene Wolfe skillfully interweaves three bizarre tales to create a mesmerizing pattern: the harrowing account of the son of a mad genius who discovers his hideous heritage; a young man's mythic dreamquest for his darker half; and the bizarre chronicle of a scientist's nightmarish imprisonment. Like an intricate, braided knot, the pattern at last unfolds to reveal astonishing truths about this strange and savage alien landscape.

With a new introduction by O. Henry Award winning author Brian Evenson

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  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St Martin's Press
  4. Publication date
    20 Dec. 2022
  5. Dimensions
    14.22 x 2.54 x 21.59 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    1250840104
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1250840103
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  1. A child, not knowing what is extraordinary and what commonplace, usually lights midway between the two, finds interest in incidents adults consider beneath notice and calmly accepts the most improbable occurrences.
    Highlighted by 124 Kindle readers
  2. “Veil’s Hypothesis supposes the abos to have possessed the ability to mimic mankind perfectly. Veil thought that when the ships came from Earth the abos killed everyone and took their places and the ships, so they’re not dead at all, we are.”
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Product description

Review

"A richly imaginative exploration of the nature of identity and individuality."--Malcolm Edwards, The Science Fiction Encyclopedia

"One of the major fictional works of the decade...With its elusiveness and beauty, [it] haunts one long after reading it."--Pamela Sargent

"A truly extraordinary work. One of the most cunningly wrought narratives in the whole of modern SF, a masterpiece of misdirection, subtle clues, and apparently casual revelations."--David Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels

About the Author

Gene Wolfe (1931-2019) was the Nebula Award-winning author of The Book of the New Sun tetralogy in the Solar Cycle, as well as the World Fantasy Award winners The Shadow of the Torturer and Soldier of Sidon. He was also a prolific writer of distinguished short fiction, which has been collected in such award-winning volumes as Storeys from the Old Hotel and The Best of Gene Wolfe.

A recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award, and six Locus Awards, among many other honors, Wolfe was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007, and named Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2012.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St Martin's Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 20 Dec. 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250840104
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250840103
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 kg
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.22 x 2.54 x 21.59 cm
  • Best Sellers Rank: 2,306,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 603 ratings

About the author

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Gene Wolfe

Gene Wolfe

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Gene Wolfe is winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and many other awards. In 2007, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. He lives in Barrington, Illinois.

Photo by Cory Doctorow licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
603 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book to be a classic work of science fiction, with one noting its darkly twisted affairs. Moreover, the writing quality receives positive feedback, with customers describing it as sublime. Additionally, the reading pace is engaging, with one customer highlighting how the atmosphere is captivating in the full sense.

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PacingWriting qualityReading pace
5 customers mention ‘Pacing’5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, describing it as a classic work of science fiction that is both complex and thought-provoking.

"This is the most interesting book I've read in a long time...." Read more

"...On the plus side, the stories are really weird and darkly twisted affairs and the main theme of identity is an interesting one. Why only three stars?..." Read more

"I am giving this a 5-star rating. In my opinion this is a classic work of sci-fi..." Read more

"...many depictions of man's invasion and adaptation on Mars, Wolfe's is genuinely intriguing...." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Writing quality’5 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, describing it as sublime.

"...He writes beautifully, too. The filmmaker Michael Haneke has said that he wants to pose questions to his viewers, rather than give answers...." Read more

"...from sci-fi novels and so stayed with it; easy really as the writing is so good and as the author always did have a way of convincing you the world..." Read more

"...The cadence of Wolfe's writing, which allows for startling flashes of poetry to glitter like gems on velvet..." Read more

"...It certainly requires a little more attention The writing is both sublime and very much thought provoking...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Reading pace’3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the reading pace of the book, finding it deeply satisfying, with one customer noting how the atmosphere is captivating in the full sense.

"...as comfort reading, but Wolfe's mastery of tone and atmosphere is captivating in the full sense, even when he takes us to the slave marts of Port..." Read more

"...I find myself being absolutely baffled, disgusted, shocked and curious while reading. Fully recommend this as its a compelling read" Read more

"Hugely subtle and deeply satisfying..." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Barry Bootle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hugely subtle and deeply satisfying
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2011
    Verified Purchase
    This is the most interesting book I've read in a long time. It's the first time I've read Gene Wolfe, but I've known for a while that he is thought by many to be the most influential science fiction writer alive today. I don't know enough about the genre to comment on that, but I will say that if you like superb writing that will make you think, you should give this a whirl, even if you are put off sci-fi by thoughts of gamma rays/singularities/force fields, etc etc.
    The book consists of three very different but interlinked novellas, set on the twin worlds of Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix; a coming of age narrative by the son (apparently) of a brothel-keeper/sinister scientist, an etheral, hallucinatory tale about the original, aboriginal inhabitants of Sainte Anne, who (possibly) are later exterminated by settlers from Earth, and (ostensibly) the tale of an anthropologist from Earth, who has made it his life's work to study the history of the aboriginals.
    But, in all the above tales, nothing is as straightforward as it seems, or indeed straightforward in any way.
    Wolfe's themes are myriad, but the most obvious ones are identity, existence and the fallibility of human perception, nature versus nurture, and rites of passage. Wolfe handles them with dazzling skill; there are a number of fairly clear ambiguities, none of which are directly answered, and any amount of others that are hinted at with a breathtaking subtlety. He is either a genius or a very, very clever conjurer - I can't quite decide which. He writes beautifully, too.
    The filmmaker Michael Haneke has said that he wants to pose questions to his viewers, rather than give answers. If this is the kind of thing you like, then I urge you to read this.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Quickly became one of my favourite books...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 September 2007
    This is by no means an easy book to fully understand, but it's phenomonally rewarding if you put in the effort.

    It's a lyrical meditation on identity and the self; some of the passages in the second of the three novellas which make up the body of this work are particularly beautiful, and to my mind at least it's a joy to read.

    It's complicated, though. The three novellas are interlinked but not particularly similar; each has its own style and identity (or is that too loaded a word to use in the context of the ideas contained in the book?). Despite this, you won't understand completely what is going on in any until you've read all three, and even then it's a matter of putting together clues that are not always obvious. they are there though, and careful study reveals them.

    When you finally manage to put it all together and step back, you see the book as the complex and magnificent clockwork it is, with gears and cogs from each of the novellas turning harmoniously within their story and without - interacting with the themes and events of the other novellas to allow a fuller comprehension of the frightening implications of the events of the entire book.

    you can't trust the narrator in any of the stories, because the narrators can't trust themselves. they don't know who they are.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Digital-Finger
    5.0 out of 5 stars ingenious but potentially baffling
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 May 2014
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    This book doesn't give a neatly tied up bundle for an ending, (or does it?) which threw me as, for reasons of tradition I suppose, I thought that was what was coming, at least I had built that expectation myself from the narrative. Several times throughout the reading of it I found myself wondering what was going on, but I'm used to that from sci-fi novels and so stayed with it; easy really as the writing is so good and as the author always did have a way of convincing you the world he put you in was real.

    This is a book that I need to read again, if only to dismiss that vague suspicion I was left with that perhaps I had missed something.. I read a lot of sci-fi (in fact pretty much exclusively) and have read all Gene Wolfe's other books, so accepting that the reader is sometimes challenged, played with or downright tricked is par for the course, nonetheless this was the only book I was still unsure about after reading it; not in the way we are sometimes left with an acceptable ambiguity, nor in the way we are sometimes just left with a cop out, but more in the way of whether or not I had actually 'got' it at all (this experience may or may not be a good thing, depending on one's mood and expectations at the time). However if I did get it then It takes one of the oldest ideas in sci-fi, retells it in Gene Wolfe style, and extends it, puts a twist on it and leaves you with the possible far-reaching and stunning implications.

    I certainly had hoped though that the story would somewhere, even if codified, present a concrete explanation for why Cerberus specifically had a fifth head, rather then a fourth, sixth or seventh, but I think (unless a second reading changes my view) that the title is more of a joke than a clue. Or perhaps the title's allusion to the underworld/hades hopes to imply that the narrative is by way of euhemerism, a tongue-in-cheek ploy to reinforce the idea that the story is based on an authentic history.

    But then I would say that, wouldn't it?
    ;)
    One person found this helpful
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  • Matt
    3.0 out of 5 stars Okay
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 May 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Regarding the SF Masterworks edition of the book: *Do not read the introduction.* Well, read it but after you read the main texts. It gives away way too much of the plot. The book consists of three interlocking stories. On the plus side, the stories are really weird and darkly twisted affairs and the main theme of identity is an interesting one. Why only three stars? This is completely subjective but for me the sentences were consistently too long and I found myself rereading passages multiple times to make sure I'd understood them. Overall, I'd say that it's by no means a waste of time but more interesting than enjoyable.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Ali
    5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2025
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    EXCELLENT
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  • Le Veilleur Silencieux
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Read
    Reviewed in Saudi Arabia on 19 February 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Wolfe allusions are well-wrought and indicative of a greater back story and that there is a palimpsest to get to the bottom of, there are others who insist that the surface story, with all its mysteries and contradictions, is all that there is - atmosphere over form. The second group has forgotten something - Gene Wolfe is that rarest of men - a spiritually inclined engineer with a love both of literature, mystery novels, and pulp science fiction - not to mention that he is a genius and clearly sees the mystery of everyday life - that the power he believes in which could change everything in fact never acts directly, working unseen if at all and allowing freedom.

    Wolfe's contextual symbols ALWAYS point somewhere, you just have to be willing to see the deeper story. In this text, two engineering terms are vital to "solving" the mystery - the relaxation the pale and pasty Dr. Marsch brings up when talking to number 5 and the idea of V.R.T. - variance reduction techniques, in which a SERIES of approximations reduces variance and "solves" a problem.
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  • Krishna
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gene Wolfe at his best
    Reviewed in India on 7 October 2023
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    This book, one of the first books by the venerable Gene Wolfe, is a collection of three novellas that are related to each other. Stories revolve around the colonization of a twin-planet system by humans and the consequences. The primary themes are that of identity and post-colonialism.

    All three have the mystery of Gene Wolfe mastery via unreliable narratives, change in perspective, and no clear timelines/expositions. The first of the three novels is the easiest to read. The second is from the perspective for “aliens” on a planet that humans colonize. The third is a a series of broken readings of journals of a criminal.

    If you are reading these for the first time, you may the book difficult to follow and confusing. If you are in this space, listen to the podcasts by The Alzabo Soup, a podcast that dissects Wolfe’s work among others, about the book and understand the mastery that lies at the heart of these novellas.

    As I say for every Gene Wolfe novel — Wolfe’s works are sci-fi masterpieces cloaked as fantasy. Please read!
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  • JOHN A. KENNEDY
    5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
    Reviewed in Canada on 12 December 2023
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    Awesome
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  • LostMarble
    5.0 out of 5 stars Anthropological Mystery/Speculative Ethics
    Reviewed in the United States on 22 October 2009
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    If you were expecting space opera, yes, you will be disappointed. The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a novel with some serious literary intentions. Many (most?) fans aren't really keen on that when they pick up an sf novel.

    But I would like to comment about the many reviews that claim this book is difficult, that it requires repeated readings, that it has many possible interpretations. (BTW, if you want to get someone interested in a book, don't tell him that he has to read it several times to understand it!)

    Wolfe's narrative style is not opaque or contorted. It is straightforward and elegant throughout. It does switch scenes, sometimes frequently, to tell the reader what the other characters are up to, and it does go back and forth in time, to some extent. These are techniques to which any reader of any genre of fiction in the 21st century is well-accustomed.

    Be that as it may, The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a mystery novel, in this case a speculative anthropological mystery. Like many mystery novels, it includes a number of riddles whose solutions intertwine. The most fundamental is how the societies of the fictive planets reached their very peculiar current condition. The solutions are not spelled out for the reader in the courtroom denouement of a traditional detective novel, though they are finally revealed by means of a legal evidentiary investigation. There is one solution (the "fourth story" mentioned by some reviewers) that explains the intertwined enigmas. A plethora of alternatives is neither required nor possible. The reader can gradually come to know the fourth story by means of clues scattered liberally on almost every page of the other three. The most important clues are repeated, often several times, and well signalled. Others are cleverly or clumsily dropped by the wayside. Nothing is wasted. Every sentence has significance. An unexplained or puzzling remark or occurrence is a signal of something that will assume importance later.

    The mystery (or mysteries) can be solved easily on a single reading. One has to be awake to detail, keep in mind obvious clues, and should probably pause now and then to mull over what might solve the riddles currently in play, what explanations might work, what is the evidence pro and con: like reading a detective novel. Still, several reviewers have insightfully pointed out that the "fourth story" of the triad (i.e the various mysteries' explication) is not found on the printed page but is carefully constructed by the author in the alert reader's imagination. By the end, the reader has all the information he needs to share the author's vision of the history of his planets and characters.

    Though the story and the anthropological speculation behind it make for an enjoyable and moving tale, The Fifth Head of Cerberus contains some philosophic themes that run deeper than the mysterious plot. Every part of the narrative illustrates or exemplifies these more profound themes. Wolfe does not make philosophical statements but ruminates, always employing the narrative and characters, always "showing rather than telling".

    Other reviewers have discussed most of these themes, but have neglected the most important, that is, the moral character and behavior of the novel's people and animals (and machines). I have been told that always at the forefront of Wolfe's writing is morality, the moral dimension of his subject matter. If so, The Fifth Head of Cerberus is no exception. The foundational characteristic of Wolfe's imagined world is that the physical and mental parts of all its living beings are malleable and transferable. Every character embodies the moral strategies and behaviors called forth by this psychophysical (inter-)changeability. By our standards, all three protagonists are amoral members of amoral societies, yet their lives are undergirded by inescapable ethical infrastructures. Some reviewers have asked what the novel is about. I answer. It is about morality, ethics in an invented world and in our own. Morality in extreme circumstances is what each of the three narratives and the triad as a whole are about. And again, not a sentence is wasted.

    The Fifth Head of Cerberus was published at the time when genetic engineering and cloning technology had only begun to break down the boundaries of our physical identity. Today, the book should be recommended reading for any seminar in Speculative Ethics. (Or Speculative Anthropology, if there should be such a discipline!)
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  • Jean-François Lefour
    2.0 out of 5 stars Un classique décevant
    Reviewed in France on 5 July 2025
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    Très bien écrit, connu pour être un classique ( pour certains un chef-d'œuvre...), je l'ai trouvé, pour ma part, abscons, d'une construction discutable et, pour tout dire, d'un ennui qui confine au pénible. Chaque section peut sembler convaincante par sa forme ( encore que...) mais pas sur son fond : l'argument reste insaisissable.
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